On the Home Front
by theleadingman08
Summary: This is a re-make of my previous fic, On the Homefront. After Pain's defeat, Naruto is unable to leave Konoha and go after the Raikage. NaruxHina fic, will include fight scenes and another jinchuuriki later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters Kishimoto does.**

This is a fresh start on my previous fic, _On the Homefront_. There were several things about it (whole chapters, even) that I didn't like. I also disliked spelling some words with that extra "u" (Danzo**u**, Cho**u**ji, etc...), even though it is technically correct. So I'm starting over from scratch. "Jinchuuriki seems to be the accepted spelling, so I'll keep the "u" in there.

Here's the premise for those who didn't read version 1; this is takes place after Naruto defeats Pain and the villagers are revived. When Danzo became Hokage, he decreed that Naruto wouldn't be allowed to leave the village. In the manga, Naruto escapes with absurd ease. In my fic, he isn't so lucky (but perhaps things will turn out for the best, who knows?).

Also, I have always lamented the fact that only three (four in the anime) jinchuriki have been given any time. These people are supposed to be important to the story, right? Ya know, that whole kinda _massively_ important Tailed-Beast sub-plot. After careful consideration, I have found exactly one who I could pretend was still alive without _completely _messing up Kishimoto's canon work. Those who have read my previous fic already know, but for anyone who has not, feel free to guess. Said jinchuriki will be making an appearance a few chapters in. You can find a list of the jinchuuriki on the Naruto Wiki, Narutopedia.

But I've rambled enough. Let's get into the story proper, shall we?

**Chapter 1: Caged in Konoha  
**

"Alright Naruto," Kakashi's whisper came from the hidden earpiece Naruto wore, "We have two ANBU on us, just as expected. Konohamaru is not far ahead. You remember the plan, right?"

"Of course I remember the plan, I'm the one who came up with it." Naruto scoffed quietly, careful to move his lips as little as possible. He would walk, apparently alone, through the path in the forest on the Hidden Leaf's outskirts. Konohamaru would make a dramatic entrance and challenge him to a Sexy Jutsu contest. Such a spectacle would naturally produce all the distraction needed for Kakashi to drop from his hiding spot in the trees, catching the ANBU trackers by surprise and knocking them out with his sharingan before they could react. Naruto merely hoped that the spies would not interfere before the plan was executed.

As though his thoughts were the signal to begin the operation, Konohamaru stepped out boldly from behind a tree trunk and pointed a challenging finger at Naruto.

"Boss, I challenge you to a duel! I hope you're ready, 'cause I've been practicing for this moment for weeks!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Naruto couldn't help but grin at his young rival's enthusiasm. He had already heard of Konohamaru's battle with Pain, however brief it may have been, and was rather looking forward to seeing how much the boy had improved his _other_ signature jutsu. He put his hands together, and an impressively large (though utterly unneeded) amount of chakra visibly swirled around him.

"Sexy Jutsu!" He shouted unnecessarily. But then, this _was_ supposed to be a distraction, so perhaps the carrying voice _was_ called for.

* * *

"Sexy Jutsu!"

_That's the signal,_ Kakashi thought as he prepared to drop down in front of the now thoroughly distracted agents. But just as he lifted the headband covering his Sharingan and gathered his legs beneath him for the coming leap, a coldly professional voice spoke behind him.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that, unless you plan on being labeled a traitor."

The would-be escapee below tensed, and Konohamaru dropped his transformation, surprised. Kakashi hung his head in defeat; of course there had been a third member of the party, remaining separate from the others. It was exactly the kind of precaution Kakashi would have taken had he been arranging a team with the objective of containing a person. How careless it was of him to overlook such a thing.

The masked man raised his voice. "Uzumaki! You are to remain in the village, as per the Lord Hokage's orders. Disobey and you will face severe consequences."

"What consequences?" Naruto called up to him angrily, "You think you can stop me?"

"I sincerely doubt that we are capable of stopping you with mere force. As the warrior who defeated Pain, you are undoubtedly significantly stronger than we are." The ANBU agent said evenly. But then his voice took on a lighter tone, which somehow seemed more threatening than any shout could be. "However, if we do not report back to our superiors, they will know that you've left the village, along with Kakashi here. I'm sure you're aware that leaving your post without permission is a criminal act that will make you an official missing-nin. The brat, too, will be in a great deal of trouble for aiding you."

Below, Konohamaru spluttered indignantly at being called a brat. Naruto clenched his fists in suppressed rage. Danzo had him well and truly cornered. Even if he did manage to buy forgiveness for Sasuke in his appeal to the Raikage, he couldn't bring his friend back home if he himself was an exile. Naruto's mouth opened, an angry retort on his lips, but Kakashi leaped down from his perch and grabbed him by the arm, casting him a warning glance to keep him silent.

"We understand," Kakashi said, more to get in a word before Naruto could say anything to worsen the situation than to acknowledge the order, "We'll return to the village at once."

The masked ANBU dropped down from the treetops and turned directly to Naruto. "Know that you will be under constant surveillance, Uzumaki. You may roam the village as you please, but any further escape attempts will earn you the title of traitor."

* * *

Naruto paced back and forth irritatedly inside his tent while Kakashi and Yamato watched his progress wearily.

"Why? Why is Danzo-" he spat out the word as though it left a foul taste in his mouth, "-so determined to keep me locked up?"

Yamato sighed patiently. "What you must realize, Naruto, is that Lady Tsunade's decisions to send you on missions so far from the village were vehemently opposed by many people, Danzo included. Jinch... people with your abilities... are generally kept on a short leash because of their importance. Danzo isn't willing to take the chance of losing someone as significant as you are."

Naruto twitched in irritation when Yamato almost let the word 'jinchuuriki' slip, a sure way to offend the boy. Kakashi quickly picked up the conversation before Naruto could become any more agitated.

"Look, this isn't all bad." He said cheerfully, "The village needs you too, you know."

Naruto glanced up at him curiously. "What do you mean? I'm terrible with a hammer and nails. I'll just end up causing more damage."

"Don't worry about rebuilding, Yamato can take care of that-" (Yamato stumbled back in alarm. _Surely_ Kakashi wasn't suggesting that he use his Wood Style Jutsu to rebuild the _entire_ village by _himself_, was he?) "-No, I'm referring to what you can do morale-wise. By and large, the village adores you; many of the children practically worship you, and about half of the women want to marry you. Just by being visible, you can make a difference."

Whatever Naruto had been expecting his sensei to say, it had certainly not been that. "Adore? Worship?" Naruto only imagined the words being used to describe himself in his Hokage fantasies, although he found Kakashi's comment about the females somewhat disturbing.

"Well, you are a Kage-level warrior. You defeated Pain head-on when the combined efforts of _all_ the ninja in the village struggled to simply delay them. After that, you convinced Nagato to revive everyone he had killed in his attack, including myself as luck would have it, a fact for which I am very grateful. I've even heard talk among some of the people, civilians and shinobi alike, who think you should have been named Hokage."

The pacing finally came to a halt. Naruto was struck dumb by his sensei's words. The villagers who had not long ago hated him now actually wanted him to be _Hokage_? It was a dream come true. Or rather, a dream that might be, were it not for Danzo.

"There's still some daylight right now." Kakashi cut across Naruto's reverie. "Why don't you take a little walk? You might be surprised by what you see." Kakashi smiled (maybe?), and pushed past the flap of the tent, disappearing from sight.

"I suppose I should leave as well," Yamato said, rising tiredly to his feet. "I can't exactly rebuild the entire village from scratch, but I can at least put up some shelters sturdier than these tents." He had the look of a man resigning himself to a lifetime of back-breaking labor as he turned to leave.

"Oh," he suddenly called over his shoulder, "why don't you save that walk until your face is healed? It wouldn't do for Konoha to see its hero with his face beaten to a bloody pulp, now would it?" Yamato gave Naruto another glance. "That Cloud nin didn't hold back when she was beating you. You _really_ sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

Yamato nodded, although he still looked rather doubtful, and walked out of the tent.

Naruto stood indecisively on the spot, still pondering the two jonin's words. _Surely I'm not _that_ popular, am I? I mean, sure everyone was cheering when I first came back, but,_ he thought bitterly,_ it was my fault that the village was destroyed in the first place. If Akatsuki hadn't been looking for me..._

He shook his head firmly, pushing aside that line of thought. It was pointless wondering what might have been.

* * *

Hinata meandered through the new Hyuga compound, which consisted of nothing more than a grouping of tents set apart from the rest of the camp. Her thoughts were a fierce argument running back and forth between two conflicting trains of thought.

_What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to face him now? I was expecting, _intending_, to die when I went out there. I didn't think I'd have to face this kind of dilemma. What do I do?_

_Just talk to him already!_

_I can't do that! What would I say anyways? I said everything I meant to when I went to protect him._

_Talk about his eyes, his hair, his smile, the weather, just pick something!_

_But-_

Her inner dialogue was interrupted by an unexpected collision with a passerby.

"Oh, Hinata," Kiba said in surprise, "I was just searching for you." He tilted his head in a dog-like manner and gave her a curious look. "What's up? You smell nervous."

"Um, um..." Hinata said with the stutter she thought she had grown out of. "W-well, I was thinking of... what to do about... about..." Her voice faded away and she gulped nervously. "About..."

"Naruto?" Kiba supplied. Hinata was surprised to see that he was not wearing the smirk he usually had wen the discussion turned toward her not-so-secret crush. Was Kiba being... polite? Maybe even sensitive?

She gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"I thought you had gotten past all that hesitation when you rushed out to defend him, which was really cool by the way." Kiba offered up a smile meant to boost her confidence. It failed spectacularly. "It's all out in the open now, so what is there to be afraid of? Surely you don't intend to run away from him every time he strolls into view, do you?"

Everything her teammate said was true, that much was undeniable. But still, that didn't make her situation any easier. Now that she had gotten past the simple matter of certain death, she was now faced the terrifying prospect of talking to Naruto, finding out how _he_ felt about _her_. What if he turned her down? What if (her heart skipped several beats) he asked her out on a date?

She would faint for sure if that happened.

* * *

Naruto climbed groggily to his feet after a semi-refreshing nap. A quick glance in the mirror told him that, despite the healing powers of the fox, he hadn't fully recovered from his beating. When a particularly large growl emanated from his stomach, he sighed wearily and began a fruitless search for some cup ramen.

Reality suddenly indulged him. The sweetest, most seductive scent wafted into his tent. It was ramen, and it was coming closer!

"Naruto, you hadn't shown yourself for a while, so I thought I'd bring you some-" Sakura began absently as she entered the tent. Her inattention vanished when she glanced upward. "_What happened to your face?"_

The bowl she had been carrying clattered down onto the earthen floor, spilling its delicious contents. A sad waste, Naruto reflected dejectedly. An iron fist grabbing him by the front of his jumpsuit brought him abruptly back to the volatile situation at hand. Sakura looked like she was restraining herself from punching Naruto with extreme difficulty.

She took a calming breath and let it slowly, though she still quivered with suppressed anger. "Forget it, I'd probably be better off not knowing what you've been up to."

Naruto couldn't help but agree. She didn't need to hear about the troubles caused by Sasuke's latest crimes. Naruto himself wished he could wipe his mind clean of what those Cloud nin had told him.

"Come on, let me heal your face," she said in a forced calm, and began working on his wounds with professional efficiency. A heavy silence fell over the tent until Naruto broke the quiet.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hold still, idiot! I can't treat you when you're moving around!" she hissed, and promptly hit him gently (by her standards) over the head, most likely giving him a new injury for her to heal. Naruto instantly obeyed, but the thought which had been bugging him refused to be silenced.

"I just needed to get some advice," he said while trying to move his lips as little as possible. "About... Hinata."

Sakura's healing jutsu faltered for a moment, but she quickly regained control of herself. "Go on."

Naruto felt suddenly awkward. "Well, when I was fighting Pain, and she joined the battle... she uh... told me that she...l-loved me." The words had sounded strange in his head, but out loud they were almost frightening. Loving someone else was one thing, but being on the receiving end was totally different. He felt as though he were somehow cornered by Hinata's feelings. _Does Sakura always feel this way around me?_

"And how did you reply?"

"Well, that's the thing. I haven't talked to her yet."

Sakura stopped healing him altogether. "Naruto," she admonished, "not giving an answer is itself an answer. She's just going to be tortured by this until you talk to her about it."

Sickening guilt settled into Naruto's stomach, and suddenly he didn't miss the ruined ramen slowly soaking into the the floor of his tent.

"So," Sakura continued, "now you know how she feels about you. How do you feel about her?"

"That's what's bothering me. I just don't know," he said heavily. "I've always been so focused on-" But he stopped abruptly and turned red. Sakura could hardly fail to notice the way he was avoiding looking at her.

Sakura took a deep breath, and began talking with an air of one wanting to get the worst over quickly. "Look Naruto, you're like my brother. You're one of the most important people to me, but I don't love you in _that_ way, not the way Hinata loves you"

Naruto's gaze retreated further from her, and he seemed to become even _more_ silent, if such a thing were possible.

"Ask Hinata out."

He looked up at Sakura, stunned by her candor. "Huh?" was all he could think to say in response.

"There's no one more deserving of you than Hinata. She always saw you as the hero you are, while the rest of us only sneered. She was never shallow like the rest of us were. She's..." Sakura's voice sank into bitterness. "She's just a _better person_ than me, than anyone else from our class."

When she finished her speech, Sakura looked downright depressed. Naruto opened his mouth, ready to deliver some words of encouragement, although none came to mind. Before he could think up a response, Sakura rose to her feet and said authoritatively, "Get some more sleep. Tomorrow, go talk to Hinata, invite her to have lunch with you or something. I think you'll be surprised when you realize what kind of person she is."

She departed, and Naruto leaned back down on his cot, suddenly aware of just how much the conversation had worn him out. His stomach was still growling, but it wasn't food that was occupying is mind.

_"You changed me, your smile saved me! So I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because I... love you..."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters. Kishimoto does.

**Author's Note:** for future reference, this story follows canon through the Invasion of Pain arc and takes into account the Kage Summit arc. After that, it's mostly AU. No Zetsu Attack of the Clones. Also, I'm changing the name of the story back to the original one. "Caged in Konoha" doesn't seem to fit with the overall mood of the story, although it will get darker later on.

**Chapter 2: You Can't Spell Fangirl Without "Fang"  
**

Naruto awoke to the sounds of chirping birds, ringing hammers, and his own stomach protesting more loudly than ever. He didn't climb out of bed so much as he tumbled out onto the dirt floor in exhaustion and misery. _Food... I...__ need... food._

With a herculean effort, he dragged himself up and pulled on his clothes, wondering all the while how he could get his hands on some sustenance. _All of Konoha is just a crater now. We must be short on supplies. The easiest place to get food from would probably be Mount Myoboku, but..._

He shuddered at the thought of what kind of 'food' the toads would provide. With no new ideas or options presenting themselves, Naruto exited his tent, preparing for the hunt. The moment he stepped into the glaring sunlight, he heard excited whispers coming from behind a stack of lumber. As turned toward the source of the noise, he caught the tiniest glimpse of someone's hair whipping out of sight, and the murmuring suddenly stopped.

"Uh, hello?" Naruto called to the pile of wood, "Someone there?" A few stifled feminine giggles were his only response. Judging from the voices, their owners couldn't have been older than twelve. Kakashi's comment (or as Naruto now called it, warning) about the women in Konoha rose to his front of his mind, and he decided it would be wise to make himself scarce.

In a casual manner he slipped back inside the tent and examined himself in the mirror. Even without the bright orange jumpsuit, he would have been all too recognizable to the villagers before Pain's defeat, let alone now that he was a hero or some such. He simply had no chance of going unnoticed as he was. _Well then, I guess it's time to become someone else._

No more than a few hand seals later, Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke. In his place stood a brown haired, brown eyed man wearing slightly dusty civilian clothes. His features were rather homely, and he had no distinctive facial hair. He was the sort of man who could blend in with any crowd and be forgotten in seconds._ Perfect._

Gingerly the man who certainly bore no resemblance to Naruto lifted the bottom edge of the back end of his tent and stole a furtive look at the surroundings. No one in sight. _Perfect._

With only a little bit of struggling he crawled out from beneath the wall of fabric and rose to his feet cast one more glance around. Still no one in sight._ Per-_

"There he is!" A girlish squeal cut through background noises. _Not Perfect._

Three young girls had appeared from around the edge of his tent, and the one in front was pointing a finger straight at Naruto. He desperately looked behind himself, in the futile hope that she was pointing at someone else. But there was, of course, no one in sight. Except himself. "Uh..." Naruto said, "yeah, here I am, but, uh... it's not like I'm not anyone important or anything."

The three were (most unfortunately) not fooled. "Don't be silly. You're Naruto Uzumaki!" The one in front declared with authoritative conviction as the other two girls nodded vigorously.

"N-no, I'm not me... I mean him! My name's, uh..." he fumbled desperately, his eyes darting left and right in search of someone to save him. But there was still, of course, no one in sight.

"Of course you're Naruto!" The leader, a girl with brown hair that was cut short, said, "Your hair is spiky just like his-"

"And," A more soft spoken one with wavy black locks standing on the right continued, "you're wearing the same blue sandals that he always has on-"

The girl to the left, her head adorned with a yellow hairband, cut across her two friends, "And you're exactly the same height that he is! There's no mistake about it, you're definitely Naruto!"

The brown haired man who was trying valiantly not to be Naruto sighed in defeat and let his transformation drop. With a burst of smoke similar to the one that marked his appearance, the mystery man vanished and was replaced with Naruto Uzumaki in all his blond, orange, whiskered glory. "Who are you three anyway?" he asked as he wearily buried his face in one hand.

"Yuka!" The leader answered excitedly.

"Ayumi." The soft spoken one said.

"And Eri!" The one with the hairband cheered, "We're team four, fresh from the academy, and we're also-"

"Your biggest fans!" All of team four finished in an exuberant chorus.

Naruto stood dumbfounded. "My biggest fans?" he repeated numbly. _What idiot decided to put three scarily obsessive girls on the same team? And... and why _me_? _When he was younger he probably would have eaten up the attention being paid to him. But now, Naruto found those googly-eyed stares to be the creepiest thing he had ever experienced. "So... what do you three want with me?"

* * *

Naruto, lamenting the rewards of fame, his disguise cast aside, marched toward endless line forming before a large cluster of tents that had become the official food distribution center. His three biggest fans tagged along behind him, happily chattering amongst themselves like over-caffeinated chipmunks. He had begged them to leave them be, but they seemed to have adopted his own 'never give up' nindo. He had tried to evade them, but they had proven to be inhumanly fast when pursuing him. They were, in short, the new and inescapable bane of his existence.

"Here for rations?" an aged woman sitting off to one side asked distractedly as Naruto and his enthusiasts approached. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait in li- Master Uzumaki!"

* * *

Hinata stood in line alongside her bodyguard, Ko, waiting to obtain whatever food she could carry back to the clan. Her father had tried to send only branch family members, but she had insisted upon going herself; she felt it was her duty to do whatever she could during a desperate time like this.

A bored voice from the end of the line that did not remain bored for long snapped her attention away from her thoughts. "Here for rations? I'm afraid you'll have to wait in li- Master Uzumaki!"

Hinata's hair nearly stood on end and she had to grab Ko's shoulder to make sure she remained on her feet. Her breath was frozen in her lungs, and she couldn't gather the courage to turn around. _No... no... no no no no no! Not now! I'm not ready! I'm not prepared! I-_

After a moment of silence, exuberant cheers erupted among the gathered crowd and shattered what had only seconds ago been a quiet calm.

"Naruto!"

"My hero!"

"Please give me an autograph!"

"Can you really fly?"

She could hear Naruto spluttering in confusion at all the attention he was suddenly being showered with. Cautiously, a centimeter at a time, Hinata turned her head around to look at her crush, the man whom she had been terrified to confront after her confession. Naruto stood with an embarrassed grin on his face, surrounded by three young girls who seemed to be guarding him from the crowd that was forming at an astonishing pace. His eyes began to scan the congregation nervously , until he met her gaze and blurted, "Hinata!"

The tumult died down slightly and people started glancing back and forth between the two of them, some excitedly, others shrewdly. Naruto's face reddened slightly, while Hinata bypassed a mere red and went straight to maroon.

One of the girls by Naruto drew a little closer to him and asked, "Naruto... who is she?" The other two turned and looked at Naruto expectantly, their faces burning with accusation. His mouth worked silently for several moments before a few broken words came out.

"She's... uh... um... she..."

"Well?" One of them tapped her foot impatiently

"She's my girlfriend!" He looked surprised even as the words tumbled from his own mouth.

The conversation continued after that, of course, but no more of it registered with Hinata. She could see all three of the girls surrounding Naruto look as though they had just been slapped. She could see Naruto at last reach a blush that matched her own. But she could hear nothing except, "_She's my girlfriend_," repeating endlessly through her head.

Darkness began creeping into the edges of her vision. "_She's my girlfriend._" The world tilted and spun around her, and she vaguely felt the ground impact against her shoulder. "_my girlfriend._" Dim shouts of alarm and panic echoed in the distance. "_girlfriend._" At last, merciful oblivion swallowed her. "_girlfriend._"

* * *

Naruto stumbled back to his tent in exhaustion. It had taken nearly two full hours to eat his bowl of ramen and then escape his crowd of fans, which was probably why Neji had had enough time to sneak into Naruto's makeshift home and wait for his return.

He rose from the room's lone chair and said without preamble, "I heard about that stunt you pulled back at the food line." Neji exuded an aura of absolute calm, which told Naruto just how very angry he was.

"Oh, yeah... so, how is Hinata doing?" Naruto asked with frightened caution, hoping that this wasn't the wrong question.

Neji's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Still unconscious, when I checked ten minutes ago."

_Wrong question._ The conversation was a mere handful of seconds in, and Naruto already sensed it taking a dangerous turn for the worse. "So then, what do you want to talk about?" Naruto had an unpleasant feeling that this was a risky subject to ask about, but Neji didn't look like he would be going anywhere until he got what he came for.

"I want to know how you intend to take responsibility for this. What do you plan on doing to fix this mess?" It was amazing how Neji could make a simple inquiry sound like a life or death test question.

And that indeed _was_ the question._ What am I supposed to do now? Sakura said that I should-_ He shook his head to clear away that mysteriously frightening prospect. Instead, he asked, "Mess? Surely things aren't _that_ bad, right?"

"The fact that Naruto Uzumaki is dating Hinata Hyuga has already become the main subject of gossip. If this turns out to be _not_ true after you outright stated in front of dozens of witnesses that it was, you'll have some explaining to do. In addition," Neji's brow furrowed, "Hinata will undoubtedly be in a state of alarm when she finally does awaken. Would you care to tell her that you weren't serious when you said she was your girlfriend?"

The same sickening guilt that had welled up within him during his conversation with Sakura once again began gnawing at him. "Well... no, I don't want to say something like that to her." Neji remained where he stood, still awaiting a proper answer. "I suppose I could, ya know, go out with her."

Apparently this was the response Neji had been waiting for, although if he was pleased he didn't let it show. "You'll be eating lunch with her tomorrow at noon in a temporary restaurant that Captain Yamato just built." He said in an business-like manner, "You'll behave like a perfect gentleman on the date and show Lady Hinata all due respect. If you break her heart, I'll break yours in a more literal sense of the word. Understood?"

"Yessir!" _Yamato already built a _restaurant_? The guy's gonna die of overwork soon._ Neji turned and marched from Naruto's tent. As soon as he was gone, the events of the day and their significance all sunk in at once. It had seemed a little unreal at first, but now...

_A date? Wh-what have I gotten myself into? "Behave like a perfect gentleman?" "Show _Lady_ Hinata all due respect?"_ He had almost forgotten that Hinata was the heiress to such a prestigious clan and, compared to him, practically royalty.

The rustling noise came from the entrance from his shelter, and he wheeled around to the sound, half expecting to see Neji charging him. Instead, he saw the much less frightening Tenten.

"Neji done grilling you?" she asked with a touch of amusement. Naruto responded with a tired sigh, which she seemed to interpret as a yes. "I'm here to save you from yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your hair is a mess, you're wearing orange, and you have no idea how to treat a lady. What's more, none of that is likely to change by lunch time tomorrow. Without my help you'll mess everything up, and Neji will cut your heart out with a spoon."

Naruto couldn't disagree with any of her statements, although he hoped the part with the spoon was a metaphor - it sounded like a rather painful and inglorious way to die. But there was one comment she had made that was _really_ bugging him.

"What's wrong with orange?" He asked defensively.

An almost pitying look crossed Tenten's face. She started to her mouth to respond, but then closed it and shook her head mournfully. One of her hands slipped into a pocket and withdrew a scroll. _Isn't that where she keeps her weapons? _For one confused moment, Naruto was afraid that she was going to kill him over the orange question. To his surprise, she instead summoned some neatly folded cloth. As Tenten raised it, the cloth unfurled and revealed itself to be a kimono - dark blue with a stylized leafy vine pattern stitched in golden thread.

"Nice, isn't it? My father let me loan it out to you."

"It's not orange."

Tenten grumbled, "It's _nice_. I'll come by tomorrow before your date to make sure you're ready."

* * *

Hinata had almost fainted again when Neji told her that she was going on a date tomorrow. However, she couldn't let herself collapse just yet. There was still one more task to complete before tomorrow came; she had to get her father's permission. Neji had offered to go on her behalf, but Hinata had refused. She would have to confront her father sooner or later, and she wanted to do it sooner rather than later.

With a surge of foreboding, Hinata drew near Lord Hiashi's tent. The branch family guards who stood at either side of the entrance bowed and muttered, "Lady Hinata."

"I wish to speak with my father. Is he available at the moment?"

Hiashi's voice called out from inside the tent before either of the guards had a chance to respond. "Yes. Please come in, Hinata."

Steeling herself for what awaited, Hinata stepped inside. Father sat behind a desk signing documents that an aide was handing over from a staggeringly large stack in his arms. "Leave us." Hiashi said to his assistant. The man wore an ill-concealed look of relief as he set the pile of papers on the corner of the desk, bowed, and walked out.

"Now then, to what do I owe this visit?" Her father asked in a regal tone.

Hinata gulped audibly. "Father, I- I ask your permission to date a fellow shinobi." _Why does my family have to be so strict. Any other girl could just go out and tell her parent's later, and they'd only be annoyed._

"Oh? And who might this person be?" Hiashi already knew what her answer would be. Even if he hadn't heard of the events of earlier today _or_ of what she had done during the battle against Pain, he would_ still_ know what was coming. Indeed, it was likely the whole of the Hyuga clan knew of her poorly hidden adoration for a certain young man. Still, Hiashi thought it better to feign ignorance rather than embarrass his daughter by telling her that the whole world already knew her secret.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Father."

...

Hiashi resisted the urge to rub away the ache already forming in his head. Dealing with Naruto would be a complicated ordeal. The Nine-Tailed Fox aside, his manners were crude at best and was greatly disliked by the clan elders who also knew of Hinata's love for him and made no effort to hide their disapproval. A few years ago, Hiashi himself had agreed with their line of thinking and would have flatly refused his daughter's request. But things had changed since then.

Naruto was now the most popular person in all of Konoha, and his being associated with the Hyuga would certainly be beneficial for the clan. Things would be even better if he actually _did_ become hokage, which suddenly did not seem at all unlikely.

Most importantly though, denying his daughter would mean crushing the hope she held even higher than becoming the clan leader. During the chunin exams that had taken place so many years ago, Hiashi had been reminded of the kind man he had once been. It was then that he had promised to himself that he would make amends for the wrongs of the head family against the branch family, and the wrongs that he alone had committed against his own daughter.

It was already a foregone conclusion, Hiashi knew. "Very well, you may date him." He managed to take some joy in the expression of unadulterated elation that spread across his daughter's face as she hastily bowed and took her leave. He would have to remember to hold on to that joy during the inevitable dinner that would be coming in a few weeks time. The dinner where Naruto and the clan elders would be in the same room. _Yes, I'll definitely be needing some happy thoughts when_ that_ time comes_.

* * *

A lone traveler - female, perhaps around the age of sixteen - meandered down a dirt path, humming absently to herself. She had green hair, pink eyes, a large red bag on her back, clothes that could best be described as a little daring, and an aura of simple-minded optimism around her.

"Let's see..." she mused out loud to herself, "next stop is Konoha. Pretty big place. I probably won't be recognized, but all the same I shouldn't stay for long. Pick up some supplies, rest for a night, then it's back on the road."

The girl threw back her head and let the rays of sunlight soak into her tanned skin. It was glorious days like this that made her glad to be alive. Even if she was on the run. Even if she was all alone in this vast world. There was always happiness to be found somewhere.

Her expression cracked just a little. "Okay, so maybe I'm a _little_ lonely. But all things considered, this really isn't such a bad existence."

She reapplied the smile that had been practiced for years. "Yeah, life is good," she assured herself. She kept repeating the mantra in her head, but was only partially convinced by it.

"Konoha _is_ pretty big... maybe I _could_ stay-" _No,_ she cut herself off,_ I have to keep moving. Loneliness is the price of freedom. And I'll pay it gladly._

She continued down the path and struck up another tuneless tune, trying her best to be happy.


End file.
